The Language Between Us

Severide's Daughter

"What do you think she looks like?", Stella asked.

"I dunno. The German Child service didn't send a picture", Kelly answered.

"I'm so excited to meet her", Stella said. She wasn't all that excited about the idea of Severide having a daughter. But in the end, her fiancé didn't even know he had a child until the phone call came in. Stella has already identified many activities to do together as a family in Chicago. She wants to have a good relationship with the child from the start. In the last few days she and Sylvie have also prepared the guest room for an 11-year-old girl.

They reach their destination after a four-hour car drive away from Frankfurt Airport. A typical old small town near a big forest. Numerous old timbered-framed buildings adorned the streets.

Now they are standing in front of the old house where Severide's daughter temporarily lives.

The old lady received them kindly, offering them coffee while they waited for the girl to arrive, because she really wanted to see her friends at school one last time.

The moment Lina arrived home, the old lady talked to her about her new American life, especially about her new family.

"Hello", she said shyly.

"Hey Lina", Kelly smiled, "You know who we are?"

She nodded. Then she turned around and talked to the lady in german. They assumed that it was in fact a conflict because Lina stormed off.

"Lina is a great girl, but she finds it difficult to leave her familiar surroundings and friends", the old lady told them.

Over the next few days, Stella and Kelly tried to develop a relationship with Lina, but the girl was not interested in getting to know them better. The day of departure has arrived.

Lina chose the seat by the window. Her father sat next to her, followed by Stella.

"Have you ever flown by plane?" Kelly asked curiously. Lina just looked at him confused. Kelly quickly realized that his daughter's English vocabulary was more limited than he had thought. Thank Goodness Stella had thought of everything and bought an English-German dictionary at an airport shop.

Kelly checked the dictionary and showed her the words:

plane = Flugzeug

before = zuvor

Lina shook her head: "No plane before", she explained.

"Are you scared?" Kelly asked. Again he showed her the word in the dictionary.

"Yes, but no plane. Never america."

"So you mean you're afraid of your new life in Chicago because you never went to the USA before." Stella stated.

"Uh... yes?" Lina said.

"You don't understand me right?" Stella asked sadly, "Do you know some English words or do you know how to speak english?"

"Uh... My name is Lina. I am eleven years old. I am from Germany."

"So you know some basics that's good" Stella cheered her up. Kelly, on the other hand, just looked at his girlfriend sadly. They just weren't able to communicate with Lina. He has so many questions for his daughter and would like to get to know her, but the language separates them.

"Do you have a hobby?" Stella asked, "What do you like to do all day?"

"I like swimming", Lina answered. Then she tapped her book, "and lesen."

"So you like swimming and reading", Stella stated, "Do you have a favorite sports team? I like the Blackhawks. They are an ice hockey Team in Chicago."

"No sport fan" Lina said.

"Okay but you're liking swimming. We can go to one of the indoor water parks near Chicago. And you can join your school swim team if you want" Stella said.

Lina shrugged. She took the dictionary from her father and looked for the right word. She showed it to them: maybe.

Since Lina didn't want to have another conversation with the two strangers, she put on her headphones...

My new story idea. How do you find it? Please don't take my spelling mistakes seriously. English is a foreign language for me. I am from Germany. I know there are a lot of fanfictions of Severide having a daughter but this is a fanfic where Severide's daughter is speaking a different language. So there are a lot of misunderstandings between them.